Post by RuthE on Sept 15, 2007 18:20:17 GMT 1
The first time I saw Bobby I knew he was coming home with us. We were at a local small animal shelter looking for a kitten or young cat. My Mum had pretty specific ideas about what she wanted. It had to be a female, and certainly a shorthair. Preferably ginger, or maybe tortoiseshell. If we couldn't get what she wanted we would be going home with an empty cat basket.
Famous last words. We walked past a cage full of black and white kittens. Most sleeping quietly, but one caught our eyes. He was bouncing off the walls and the roof of his cage. A little black and white, long haired ball of fluff with far too much energy. Of course he ended up coming home with us. We thought he should be kept quiet when he was first introduced to his new home. But he had other ideas and ended up doing wall of death around the house the moment he got out of his basket
Even though he was supposed to be my Mums cat he somehow ended up moving out with me when I got my own place
He packed a lot into his life, and was a regular visitor to the vets. I am sure he used more than the nine lives he was supposed to have. At just 3 years old he lost an eye, and almost his life, in an argument with a car. Then he got into numerous fights and got no end of abscesses on his head after a thug of a cat next door worked out he would swipe him round the blind side of his head easily with a sharp claw. But could we persuade Bobby that a life as an indoor cat would be a better idea? No - he was determined! A few years ago he was diagnosed with a heart murmur. Then last spring he lost an ear to skin cancer. He went blind earlier this summer. At this point we decided he would have no more major veterinary treatment, and no more overnight stays at the vets, as he was starting to look old and found trips to the vets stressful and took longer to bounce back each time.
A few weeks ago he was diagnosed with high blood pressure, and put on pills for it. For a while he started to put on weight.
Last week before we went on holiday he was feeling well and we had no concerns about him. We have suspected for some time that he would not see out another year, but had no reason to suspect that his time would be up this soon.
When my Mum went in to feed him on Thursday night he was clearly very ill and weak. She rushed him to the vets but he died on the way. The vet suspects that he had a heart attack
Now my worry is our other cat, Tinker. How will she settle to being an only cat? She used to be an only cat before we got her, but she was also an unhappy stressy cat. She is 19 now and in the 11 years we have had her has always got on well with Bobby, even though they were introduced as adults. For the first time in almost 20 years we are a one cat household.
For some reason something made me want to take some photos of Bobby before we went away. Here is one of them.....
Famous last words. We walked past a cage full of black and white kittens. Most sleeping quietly, but one caught our eyes. He was bouncing off the walls and the roof of his cage. A little black and white, long haired ball of fluff with far too much energy. Of course he ended up coming home with us. We thought he should be kept quiet when he was first introduced to his new home. But he had other ideas and ended up doing wall of death around the house the moment he got out of his basket
Even though he was supposed to be my Mums cat he somehow ended up moving out with me when I got my own place
He packed a lot into his life, and was a regular visitor to the vets. I am sure he used more than the nine lives he was supposed to have. At just 3 years old he lost an eye, and almost his life, in an argument with a car. Then he got into numerous fights and got no end of abscesses on his head after a thug of a cat next door worked out he would swipe him round the blind side of his head easily with a sharp claw. But could we persuade Bobby that a life as an indoor cat would be a better idea? No - he was determined! A few years ago he was diagnosed with a heart murmur. Then last spring he lost an ear to skin cancer. He went blind earlier this summer. At this point we decided he would have no more major veterinary treatment, and no more overnight stays at the vets, as he was starting to look old and found trips to the vets stressful and took longer to bounce back each time.
A few weeks ago he was diagnosed with high blood pressure, and put on pills for it. For a while he started to put on weight.
Last week before we went on holiday he was feeling well and we had no concerns about him. We have suspected for some time that he would not see out another year, but had no reason to suspect that his time would be up this soon.
When my Mum went in to feed him on Thursday night he was clearly very ill and weak. She rushed him to the vets but he died on the way. The vet suspects that he had a heart attack
Now my worry is our other cat, Tinker. How will she settle to being an only cat? She used to be an only cat before we got her, but she was also an unhappy stressy cat. She is 19 now and in the 11 years we have had her has always got on well with Bobby, even though they were introduced as adults. For the first time in almost 20 years we are a one cat household.
For some reason something made me want to take some photos of Bobby before we went away. Here is one of them.....